Hindsight being the wonderful thing that it is has shown that West Ham would have fared far better in their sale of Marko Arnautovic had it been completed in January as opposed to now, however there are several points that need to be looked at, primarily the financing of the deal to sell Arnautovic and the finances that were available at the time to push through the purchase of main target Maxi Gomez from Celta Vigo.
West Ham United have officially confirmed want away striker Marko Arnautovic has left the club, the £22.5 Million received from Shanghai SIPG will be re-invested towards the purchase of Maxi Gomez from Celta Vigo.
With so much to-ing and fro-ing with regards to the Maxi Gomez transfer we asked our old Org colleague David Dalby to check things out, David is a retired journalist who now lives in Spain and is not only fluent in Spanish but is really well connected with Barcelona and Malaga football clubs, indeed he is close friends with the owners of Malaga.
When Marko Arnautovic signed a contract extension in January which included a £20,000 per week pay rise, he said: "The fans gave me the power, they gave me the energy, that's why I have to be here and that's why I want to stay." Et tu Brute?
You would think having a brand new state of the art stadium, champion's league football and a much sought after manager would be good enough for Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy, however his 'need for speed' continues to encompass his large energy wastage on trying to 'muck' things up for 'rivals' West Ham United at every opportunity.
Now that Danijel Arnautovic has yet again thrown the toys out of the pram on his brother's behalf, any hope or thoughts that the mighty sulk might knuckle under and start repaying the faith shown him by West Ham have fallen by the way side. After all, "'Marko' is not a trick pony or a commodity" and therefore deserves to be playing in China where he can win medals while wearing his oxygen mask.
The Maxi Gomez 'will he or won't he' transfer saga seems to have been going on for an age, because that is exactly the case. Long since coveted by Manuel Pellegrini, Gomez knows he is wanted in East London, however, understandably wants to get the best offer he can, namely representing a club that can promise Champions League football.
Snodgrass Redeemed
When he arrived from Hull City during the January transfer window of 2017, Robert Snodgrass had the unenviable task of trying to replace Dimitri Payet, something that was beyond his and virtually any other player's scope at the time, consequently 'Snoddy' suffered. Clearly overweight from living in hotels and short of a yard or two of pace, the Scotsman became a bit of a 'marmite' character and was sent out on loan the next season to Aston Villa.
Sooner or later one or two of the protagonists competing in the battle to sign Maximiliano "Maxi" Gómez González from Celta Vigo were going to fall by the way side, and that is exactly what is happening. Essentially West Ham and Valencia were supposed to be in a 'bidding' war for the 22 year old Uruguayan striker who has a £43.5 Million release clause, however news then 'broke' that Hammers nemesis' Tottenham had joined the party!
Whether it was his close family, friends, or more likely Manuel Pellegrini's word in his 'shell like', that made the penny drop, is a matter of conjecture but the 'silence' of David Sullivan has been deafening! His stock is rising with even some of his harshest critics, and all because he has learned to let others do the talking.